Darkness
Darkness, one of the elemental powers in Night's Grip and When The Reaper Came. It is frequently mentioned in Night's Grip since it is the main element in the story. Discovery The element was uncovered by a she-wolf named Ebony, who was a thorough studier of the moon and stars. She sought interest in the moon especially, since she was a young pup. Her mother thought the fascination was strange, obscure, and to a point, mad. Ebony paid no attention to her mother's insults and nagging, and as she did, she purposely spent even more time watching the moon and stars, just to bother her. She studied the ways of the moon, night after night... how it affected the water mages so, how it sometimes covered itself completely... to her, it was everything. But, she knew something was wrong in her studies - the moon itself had in a sense, possessed her. Her mother figured out that she was becoming moonblinked, and told her daughter to stop her ways with the moon, to avoid it - as she did, Ebony's fangs locked immediately to her mothers throat. When she saw her mother fall to her feet bleeding out, shock overwhelmed her. The moon truly had possessed her. After her mother's death, she warned each wolf of the moon, and it's horrendous powers. They didn't believe her, and told Ebony that the moon is what the wolves howl to... their guardian. She continued day after day trying to convince them, but they just wouldn't believe her. Many wolves began to think that the death of her mother had begun to drive her mad... no wolf knew it was really her who did it... and when she told them, they had finally believed her. As time passed, she and the rest of her pack began to study the moon in small and careful amounts. One day, a wolf named Roy had told Ebony that something strange had happened in his Fire training - a black flame appeared instead. She was getting curious about this flame, and a day later, asked Roy to try and create the 'black flame'. It took a few attempts, but when it happened, Ebony immediately collapsed. Upon recovery, she awoke to find her sight had shrouded over completely - not even a single flash of colour could be seen. Ebony also felt something strange in her mind... thoughts of death, thoughts of rain... many depressing thoughts clouded her. When she recovered and could see again, she began to study vigorously about this 'black flame'. Why had the flame not affected Roy? She asked him later that night if anything strange had happened to him as it did to her. He denied, saying that it was like a regular flame, except cold and draining. 'Did you try to touch the flame?' she said to him. He told her that when he had, he felt a sense of hopelessness and immediately pulled away. How peculiar. Why had she blacked out, and not him? Then it came to her: when she had studied the moon and became possessed, so remnants of it would have remained in her mind. When she saw the flame, something in her mind backfired and blacked her out... it was to do with moonblinking! From then, she tried to discover how the dark flame was made with Roy and a few other wolves. She soon realised that the flames weren't made, they were extracted - by thoughts, desires, emotions, and mindsets, all negative. The wolves who had cast the flame had felt relaxed afterwards, and from this she knew it was a stress relevant. Ebony was aware a powerful element had been arisen... sure, it can't bring out earth shudders, volcanic flames or constrictive vines, but to drain something with power, would stop the power altogether. That's what darkness had been made for, she thought. To stun something, and damage minds to stabilise the evil; Ebony was scared, that darkness would be an evil element for it was so corrupting, but in her heart, she sensed that once an element had been made or discovered, there would be no way for it to be demolished. Since she had discovered the element, wolves began to train others about it. Some were given the element from Dawn and Dusk, while some simply 'pick it up' in life. Ebony herself, was unsure about this element, and how it would do throughout the lives of wolves - luckily, the element proved to be a safe one. Ebony stated: "Darkness is like a stress relevant, it's most powerful when wolves are at their lowest. However, it is also corruptive to the user, and must be used carefully." Source The dark flame is created from the mind, as all elements are - though the source it requires, is negative thoughts about life, death, tragic times, anything along those lines. Many mages do what is called 'Negative Extract Therapy', which is a method of healing and most importantly, clearing the mind. It can be done either from the mage him/herself breathing out the dark flame into water, or it can be done to others; mages absorb negative feelings from other wolves, typically those who suffer depression. The more negativity the mage holds, the more they must suffer. In order to clear their suffering, they 'exhale' the dark flames, and/or release it by other methods. Combat Techniques * Dark flame breath ''- the mage exhales a dark flame. * ''Dark fog - the mage floods the enemy with negative thoughts and temporary blindness. * Dark claw - the mage channels out dark energy, which is then taken into the form of sharp claws that hover the ground like a wave. Category:Elements __FORCETOC__